chapter six beginning in verse number one the Bible reads brethren if a man be overtaken
in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such in one in the spirit of meekness considering
thyself lest thou also be tempted bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law
of Christ for if a man think himself to be something when he is nothing he deceiveth
himself so the Bible here is talking about how to react when our fellow brother in Christ
is overtaken in a fault meaning they fall into sin basically they become backslidden
and they they commit some kind of a sin or start to do something that's wrong in their
life and God's saying that we should try to restore that person in the spirit of meekness
basically our goal should be to get that person back on track get them right with God get
them back in church and get them restored to the position that they were once in now
the Bible says here to do so in the spirit of meekness now meekness has to do with humility
being humble not being prideful or arrogant so what the Bible is saying here is that if
we see someone that's overtaken in a fault we should not have this prideful attitude
of just what a wicked person what a horrible prayer you know I would never do something
like that we're supposed to have a meek humble attitude not to basically lift ourselves up
at that person's expense and act like hey they're a horrible person and we would never
do anything like that we're supposed to restore that person in the spirit of meekness meaning
that we have genuine concern for that person's well-being and we're not just approaching
it from a vantage point of you know how much better we are like for example you know oh
hey pray for so-and-so because they're into this terrible sin or whatever and really it's
just we just want to talk about it and just kind of gloat about that take them down a
notch to lift ourselves up so the Bible says that we should restore such in one in the
spirit of meekness and then he says this considering thyself lest thou also be tempted now when
the Bible says lest thou also be tempted it's saying lest you be tempted to go down the
same path that they're going down so what the Bible is saying here is that when we have
a fellow Christian who falls into sin and we want to reach out to that person try to
restore them humbly meekly not acting like they're a complete idiot but actually you
know trying to reach out to them and saying hey look I understand but let's you know let's
get you back in church you know let's get you back reading your Bible but he says we
need to consider ourselves lest we also be tempted meaning that we don't go after that
person to the point where they become a bad influence upon us you know we're not going
to go into the bar and sit down and have a drink with them to explain to them you know
why they shouldn't be back in their drunken lifestyle you know well we'll just order an
ice water you know and sit at the bar with them and talk about it you know we had to
consider ourselves lest we also be tempted because we have to be careful being around
people that are backslidden and people that are living in sin because we don't want their
ways to rub off on us so we can't get too close or too buddy buddy with backslidden
Christians we should want to restore that person and be humble about it but we don't
want to go down into the sewer with them we don't want to follow them down that path in
order to do it so he says restore such in one in the spirit of meekness considering
thyself lest I also be tempted bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of
Christ meaning that we don't just go through life just looking out for ourselves but rather
when we see other people having problems and having trouble we should take responsibility
for helping to restore that person and not to just have an attitude that we don't care
if that person messes up their life or whatever no we should actually bear their burden now
it's interesting because right after that he says in verse four but let every man prove
his own work and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another for every
man shall bear his own burden so on the surface sometimes you'll be reading the Bible and
something will almost appear to be contradictory because in verse two there it says bear ye
one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ but then in verse number five it
says for every man shall bear his own burden so it almost seems to be saying two opposite
things but here's actually what the Bible's teaching here it says that we should bear
other people's burdens so from our perspective we should see other people's burdens and say
you know what it's my responsibility to help them bear that burden I'm going to take responsibility
and I'm going to get involved and help that person but when it comes to ourselves we need
to realize that at the end of the day it's our responsibility if we mess up our life
and it's going to be our success you know if we through the power of God live a righteous
life because we're going to receive a reward for our own work we're going to have rejoicing
in our own work alone and we've got to prove our own work and bear our own burden so what's
the bottom line we need to bear our own burden and we need to bear other people's burden
that's what the Bible is saying bear other people's burden but don't expect people to
bear your burden that's what he's saying it's not contradicting itself he's just saying
from your perspective your job is to make sure that you're doing well on your own without
help from anybody and then you go out and help other people so it's kind of a one-way
street here does everybody understand that you can't just expect everybody come bear
my burden no bear your own burden but when we see people who are kind of falling under
the load we get in there and we help bear their burden that's what the Bible is teaching
here so once you understand it it really makes perfect sense what he's saying here and there's
no contradiction you know people love to try to find contradictions in the Bible but really
it's always just a misunderstanding where they don't comprehend what's being taught
like when the Bible says you know answer not a fool according to his folly lest he be wise
in his own conceit and then the next phrase says answer or I'm sorry goodnight answer
not a fool according to his folly lest thou be like unto him and then it says answer a
fool according to his folly lest he be wise in his own conceit it's like whoa which one
is it do I answer a fool or do I answer not a fool and honestly what I believe is teaching
there is just that you can't win when you're dealing with a fool you know what I mean because
when you're conversing with the fool when you're arguing with a fool if you answer not
a fool he walks away wise in his own conceit if you answer a fool then you seem to other
people to be like unto him so it's kind of like you can't win with these people you know
it's sort of like this this stupid flat earth thing where all these people now are going
around they think the earth is flat and that it's this big NASA conspiracy it's like hello
people knew that the earth was round long before NASA came along people have been sailing
boats around the earth for hundreds and hundreds of years you know using all these charts and
maps everything but this weird doctrine is out there you know just deceiving the foolish
online where oh the earth's flat you know and it's a big conspiracy it's a big cover-up
you know it's total nonsense right and it's like if you answer this folly you seem like
an idiot for even talking about it like it makes it you sound stupid that you're even
like arguing with these people and trying to prove them no it's round but then if you
don't answer them then they're like see nobody can answer us you know nobody can disprove
us because it's a big conspiracy you know so it's one of these things where you know
you're kind of damned if you do and damned if you don't because you can't win when you're
answering a fool or not answering a fool you can't win dealing with fools you know so again
people always try to point out all the contradiction in the Bible but really it's just that they
don't understand the depth of what the Bible is teaching that's really what's going on
with these type of things where God will juxtapose two different ideas and he's trying to get
a certain point across by giving you both sides of the coin as it were there's really
no contradiction there he's just stating a fact but look at verse number six now here's
an important thing to understand with chapter six here in Galatians is that throughout the
book remember the theme has been dealing with false doctrine that had brought been
brought into the churches of Galatia and that false doctrine had to do with a workspace
salvation salvation by the law instead of salvation by grace through faith and then
the other thing was that there were the Judaizers that were coming in and they were trying to
get them to circumcise them and to keep the Jewish feasts and observe the new moons and
the Sabbath days and all those type of things and so those are the false doctrines he's
dealing with you know work salvation and the Judaizers well when you get into chapter six
he kind of deals with a bunch of subjects because it's just it's the last chapter so
it's just kind of all the final closing thoughts so he kind of changes gears rapidly in this
final chapter and if you realize that it'll help you to understand he switches from subject
to subject so basically verses one through five had to do with restoring the brother
who's gone into sin who's been overtaken in a fault ye which are spiritual restore such
and one in the spirit of meekness and remember the Bible says let him that thinketh he standeth
take heed lest he fall and there are a lot of people who get this attitude that they
would never get backslidden or they're never going to go into sin and all this stuff but
honestly a lot of times these people have only been saved for a couple years they haven't
even really been in the Christian life long enough to really understand what it's like
to go through a cycle of you know being excited about the things of God then maybe getting
a little backslidden for a while and then having a personal revival and renewal in your
life you know people that are in it for the long haul they know what that's like and by
the way they know what that's like in marriage too where marriage is great and it's sweet
and then it goes getting better better better better you know it's just you know it has
its ups and downs but then it comes back up again you know so the point is you know you
got to be in the Christian life for the long haul and Christianity is not measured in years
it's measured in decades so don't get this puffed up at oh man I'll never I'm never going
to go into sin I'm never going to get backslidden I'll never quit the church because I can tell
you about all the people who said the same thing that are not here tonight that are not
anywhere tonight that have completely gotten out of church gotten backslidden and usually
the people that are the most high minded and the most puffed up with this attitude of I'll
never forsake you I'll never quit the church I'll never backslide you can almost take it
to the bank that these people are going to backslide I mean it's when I hear people say
stuff like that to me I had a guy say that to me just several months ago he was just
so zealous and so fired up I literally I mean maybe this is cynical of me but in the back
of my head I was just thinking to myself this guy's going to be gone at six months he's
not going to be going to the church anymore and he wasn't and this guy was just so fired
up and so zealous and he's never turning back and also you know it's like Peter I'll never
deny you and he denies him a few hours later so the Bible says let him that thinketh he
standeth take heed lest he fall that's why the Bible says to restore them in a spirit
of meekness because it could be us if we're not careful that goes down that wrong road
so we need to remember that so he changes gears in verse number six that's verse one
through five but in verse six he changes gears and says let him that is taught in the word
communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things now what does that mean to communicate
unto him that teacheth in all good things well the word communicate has a few different
definitions in the Bible a lot of times in the Bible the word communicate means what
we think of in 2015 as communicate which is just to talk or express something in a message
but there's another meaning of communicate in the Bible flip over to Philippians chapter
number four I'm going to show you some scriptures that use a different meaning that fits this
scripture in Galatians look at Philippians chapter four verse fourteen it says notwithstanding
ye have well done that ye did communicate with my affliction now ye Philippians know
also that in the beginning of the gospel when I departed from Macedonia no church communicated
with me as concerning giving and receiving but ye only for even in Thessalonica ye sent
once and again unto my necessity not because I desire a gift but I desire fruit that may
abound to your account I have all but I have all in abound I'm full having received of
Epaphroditus the things which were sent from you an odor of a sweet smell a sacrifice acceptable
well pleasing to God so in this context it's clear what communicate means when it says
that they did communicate with his affliction it's not saying they had a conversation with
his trials that wouldn't really make any sense would it no it says they communicated
with his affliction it's defined in the next verse as communicating with him as concerning
giving and receiving go over to first Timothy chapter six and you'll see the same thing
first correct first Timothy chapter six this is where God is charging those that are rich
in this world first Timothy chapter six verse seventeen says charge them that are rich in
this world that they be not high minded nor trust in uncertain riches but in the living
God who giveth us richly all things to enjoy that they do good that they be rich in good
works watch this ready to distribute willing to communicate so the rich person is supposed
to be ready to distribute and be willing to communicate and what did communicate mean
back in Philippians four communicating giving unto somebody who's in need somebody who was
in need because they were in affliction so the word communicate doesn't just mean talking
but in this situation the word communicate actually means to basically give something
to someone okay it's talking about giving them money or giving them food or giving them
what they need now go back to Galatians chapter six so this is one of those words where people
will try to say that this word is archaic you know the King James Bible is archaic we
can't understand it because that's not what communicate means anymore and they'll say
that these words have changed in meaning you'll hear that a lot won't you like well a lot
of words of the King James have changed in meaning but that's really not the case these
words haven't changed in meaning at all these words have two meanings and they had two meanings
back when the Bible was written and they have two meanings now it's just that people don't
know the second meaning but that doesn't mean that it's not a valid meaning for example
the word suffer in the Bible the word suffer sometimes means to go through pain like we
would think of suffering right you're going through pain but it also sometimes means to
allow like where Jesus said suffer the children to come unto me for of such the king why said
allow the children to come to me suffering fools gladly means to put up with them okay
but here's the thing about that in the Bible both definitions existed and in a modern-day
dictionary in today's vernacular both definitions exist amongst intelligent people so they'll
try to say oh the word suffer changed in meaning no it didn't didn't change me it didn't even
lose a meaning it had two meanings back then it has two meanings now nothing has changed
I mean people today use the expression to suffer a fool gladly or suffer the children
I mean these are terms there was a song in the 80s on the radio called suffer the children
by tears for fears you know I mean what if it's so archaic why are they doing it in the
80s I mean am I that old where the 80s have become archaic but the point is that just
because you don't know a word that doesn't make it archaic I don't know that word it
must be archaic well no maybe we just need to expand our vocabularies a little bit and
get off of texting language and get on the the King's English here so you know don't
let people hit you with that because if you look up any word in the King James Version
in a modern dictionary it's there with the King James definition you can get a brand
new Webster's dictionary from this year and it will have every King James word with the
King James definition it's just that these are archaic quote unquote to people who just
have a small vocabulary it's that simple so you know we can think of the word communicate
but what about the word remuneration see even the word communicate the mune there comes
from the same root word as our word money so you can see how this could have to do with
giving communicate remuneration is another word that is from a similar root so that will
help you to understand this and again the Bible is its own dictionary because when we're
reading this in Galatians 6 we might look at this and say communicate unto him that
teach it than all good things and not quite understand that but then that's why we cross
reference with Philippians cross reference with first Timothy and then the definition
comes clear here what's it saying he that is taught in the word should communicate on
to him that teach it in all good things this basically has to do with the pastors the teachers
being paid to minister the word of God which is something that's taught throughout the
New Testament so that's all that it's saying there it's pretty easy to understand then
in the next scripture he says in verse 7 be not deceived God is not mocked for whatsoever
a man soweth that shall he also reap now this is a very famous verse just laying down a
principle that's a universal principle in a lot of areas of life that we are going to
reap what we sow what goes around comes around where we go through life planting seeds and
if those seeds are good things that we do those good things are going to come back around
to us and if we plant seeds that are bad things those bad things are going to come back around
us those are just principles of of the world that we live in okay look at verse number
8 it says for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption but he
that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting and let us not be weary
in well-doing for in due season we shall reap if we faint not now let me go into something
with this because the modern Bible versions they really twist this passage I'm gonna I'm
gonna hand out some of these modern versions to see what they say because I know I've seen
where some of the modern versions they really twist this thing up here I'm gonna give you
the whoops give you that one right there which one's that here look look this up Galatians
6 all right you want to look up the New American Standard yeah because I walked into a Christian
bookstore one time and they had some one of these versions I forget which of these
phony versions that they had but they changed this scripture all around where it was teaching
a works-based salvation and the thing about that that is so ridiculous is that the whole
book of Galatians is written to people to explain to them that salvation is by faith
and that if righteousness comes by the law then Christ is dead in vain and how we can't
be saved by the flesh we can only be saved by the spirit which comes through the hearing
of faith and that it's the faith of God that gives us righteousness in Jesus Christ not
of works the same as I mean the whole book of Galatians hammers that in every chapter
but I walked into a Christian bookstore and on this whiteboard they had a Bible verse
written and it basically said that let's basically something along the lines of that if we keep
on doing well if we're not we're in well doing then we're going to get everlasting
life if we keep doing the right things it was like whoa it was a major pair of words
do any of these versions that I hand you I don't have all my phony Bibles any of them
say anything like that oh I'm sorry six verses verses eight and nine it was it was verse
nine where they they taught work salvation it was on the I don't know what version it
was but I went to the manager and I said what is this perversion of God's Word that
you have on the whiteboard I said this is what the King James says and they've changed
it into something totally different and I told him that he should take it down and he
refused to take it down he's like you're right he's like you're right it's it's not by works
and that that version is wrong I'm like well then erase it oh well you know I can't do
that in verse nine it says the one who sows to please his sinful nature from that nature
will reap destruction the one who sows to please the spirit from the spirit will reap
eternal life what's the next verse say let us not become weary in doing good for at the
proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up see that one changed that one
actually perverted it in a different way what version is that that you're reading the NIV
yes I don't know yeah so here's the thing yeah he's got the NIV see what what the King
James is saying here is that if you sow to the flesh you'll have the flesh reap corruption
sow to the spirit of the spirit you'll reap life life everlasting I'm going to show you
what that means by cross-referencing scripture with scripture and show that this is teaching
salvation by faith not salvation by works okay but if you read it in the NIV it's basically saying
instead of sowing to the spirit they've replaced that with you know doing things that that please
the spirit so it becomes works like you're doing stuff that pleases the spirit instead of sowing to
the spirit which I'm going to show you what that means what do you got there Garrett do they do
they change it in these okay which one's this what version is this new living so let's not get
tired of doing what is good at just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we
don't give up what was it okay what do you got here this is the the new new world yeah here we
go listen to this one let's just read a lesson loud verse 8 because he who is sown with a view
to his flesh will reap corruption from his flesh but he who is sown with a view to the to the
spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit oh wait it's first I'm sorry verse 9 listen this
no no no I'm sorry yeah that was in verse 8 all right good yeah so anyway it might seem at first
like oh well these are just little changes they don't really change much but it actually
completely changes the meaning here now keep your finger in Galatians 6 and go to John chapter 4 and
I'll show you what's going on here and again you got to get the context the whole book of Galatians
has been telling us that salvation is by faith it's not by deeds it's not by works it's not by
anything that we do to earn it but that it's by faith now look at John chapter 4 and look at verse
number 35 okay the Bible reads say not ye there are yet four months and then cometh harvest behold
I say unto you lift up your eyes and look on the fields for they're white already to harvest and
he that reapeth receiveth wages okay pay attention to that he that reapeth receiveth wages and
gatherth fruit unto life eternal that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice
together now God is basically saying that he's sending us out to work in his harvest because
he said right before this in the verse before that verse 34 my meat is to do the will of him
that sent me in to finish his work so Jesus talks about doing work for the Lord right and
then he says he that reapeth which that's the work reaping he that reapeth receiveth wages and
gatherth fruit unto life eternal so what the Bible is teaching here in John chapter 4 is that
when we go out and work for the Lord he gives us wages okay now what does wages refer to what we
earn for what we do okay now think of another scripture for the wages of sin is death but the
gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord so let me ask you this are are excuse me
is eternal life the wage that we earn no way because the wages of sin is death but the gift
of God is eternal life so is eternal life a gift or a wage eternal life is a gift the Bible says
the wages of sin is death so we earn death by sinning but the gift of God is eternal life
through Jesus Christ or there's a big difference in wages and a gift wages is something that you
earn a gift is given to you for free and the Bible's real clear eternal life is not wages
it's a gift everybody got that now here what he's saying is that if we do work for the Lord though
he gives us wages what is that that's he's paying us for our work he's going to reward us that's
why Jesus said behold I come quickly and my reward is with me to give every man according
as his work shall be so here's the thing what gets us saved faith eternal life is a free gift
but after we're saved if we do works for the Lord we earn wages somebody understand that so
it doesn't take any work to get saved it doesn't take any work to get eternal life but after we're
saved if we work we get wages now why would God give us wages for the work that we do because he
doesn't want us to think that we're earning our salvation all of our works he pays us because
well I'm just working off my salvation no no you don't work off your salvation your salvation is
paid for yeah it's a free gift it's by grace you don't work for it at all before during or after
it's paid so that's why he that reapeth he that does the Lord's work receives wages that's talking
about rewards in heaven you earn a payment and gather a fruit unto life eternal and the fruit
that we bring forth is we win other people unto the Lord and we gather fruit unto life eternal so
we earn wages and we gather fruit unto life eternal but it's not saying we earn eternal
life somebody see that in the passage here wages are not eternal life no okay wages are a reward
that we get for the works that we do after we're saved the eternal life is the free gift everybody
got that so with that in mind go back to Galatians chapter 6 ok put a finger in Galatians 6 and look
at Galatians 3 verse 1 it says Oh foolish Galatians who it bewitched you that you should not obey the
truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you this only
would I learn of you received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith are
you so foolish having begun in the Spirit are you now made perfect by the flesh so what are we
talking about here we're talking about two modes of salvation we're talking about a salvation that
comes through the flesh and we're talking about a salvation that comes through the Spirit and a
salvation that comes through the flesh is a salvation that has to do with doing the works
of the law the deeds of the law and a salvation that comes by the Spirit has to do with the
hearing of faith okay that's why the Bible said in Galatians chapter 5 just a few lines to the
right there in chapter number four Christ has become of no effect unto you whosoever of you
are justified by the law you're fallen from grace for we through the Spirit wait for the hope of
righteousness by faith okay so the salvation that's of the Spirit is salvation by faith and
the salvation that is through the flesh is by the deeds of the law and the Bible says by the deeds
of the law shall no flesh be justified Christ is of no effect unto you if you try to go that route
you're doing it without Jesus so what's the Bible saying in Galatians 6 he that soweth to his flesh
shall of the flesh reap corruption but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life
everlasting how do you reap life everlasting sowing to the Spirit which would be salvation
through the Word of God salvation through the hearing of faith versus salvation through the
flesh which leads you to corruption which leads you to death okay now what people are trying what
what these new versions are changing this to though they're changing sowing to the flesh as
living a fleshly life and then they're changing sowing to the Spirit as living a spiritual life
doing the things that are pleasing to the Spirit that's what these new versions change it to if you
were listening carefully okay whereas the King James Bible what it says so to the flesh it's not
talking about living a sinful life it's talking about basically looking to the flesh that's where
we're putting our seed and our hope to receive eternal life we're trying to reap it from the
flesh no you're gonna reap corruption and if you try to reap eternal life from the Spirit through
the hearing of faith you're gonna reap eternal life then he goes on in the next verse okay to a
new thought but he's continuing off of what he just said and let us not be weary in well-doing
for a due season we shall reap if we faint not what are we gonna reap the rewards that it talked
about in John chapter 4 so here's what he's saying look you get saved by the Spirit and then if you
continue in well-doing you get rewarded for that someday in heaven that's why it says in verse
number 10 as we have therefore opportunity let us do good unto all men especially unto them who are
of the household of faith so I know this is kind of complicated but I want you to understand what
he's saying here doing good do you see that in verse number 10 let's do good especially under
what is doing good get us we reap a reward for doing good because every good thing that any man
does it says in Ephesians 6 the same shall he receive of the Lord whether he be bond or free
remember he that works reaps wages you know we get paid all right so does doing good save us
though is he saying hey if you do good you're gonna reap eternal life no no if we do good we
reap a reward but the only thing that causes us to reap everlasting life is sowing to the Spirit
it's not anything that's of our flesh it's something that is a spiritual thing of faith
okay I hope that makes sense I'm trying to explain this and break this down across reference things
because people will try to twist this basically they see the reaping eternal life in verse 8 and
they try to bring that down into verse 9 where it doesn't belong verse 8 is talking about
reaping everlasting life verse 9 is talking about reaping rewards if we do good things if we keep on
well-doing if we do good unto people but to interpret it as oh you do good and you reap
eternal life I mean that would just pretty much negate Galatians 1 through 5 it's like what have
we been talking about for chapters 1 through 5 how it's all how it's not deeds it's not works
it's not the flesh it's not anything we do he's not just gonna turn around in chapter 6 and all
of a sudden just turn that on its head no people are understanding it wrong okay you got to
compare Scripture with Scripture and understand that what he's saying here in chapter 6 ties in
with what he said in chapter 3 where he talked about salvation through the flesh and salvation
through the Spirit which one is it foolish Galatians you know is it through the hearing of
faith or is it by the deeds of the law now doing good is the deeds of the law doing good well-doing
that's all the deeds that's all works and that doesn't save us but that does earn us what a
reward which God calls wages a paycheck so God will reward us for our works we will be paid for
our deeds so we shouldn't be weary in well-doing because in due season we will reap if we faint not
God will reward us he's coming his reward is with him to give to every man as courting as his work
shall be but if you think that your deeds that you do in the flesh are going to earn you everlasting
life you are going to reap corruption okay so let's move on here it says in verse number 11
you see how large a letter I've written unto you with mine own hand now Galatians may not seem like
a very large letter to you because he doesn't mean that he's writing in great big letters what he
means when he says a large letter he means this letter that he's writing to them is a large letter
six chapters long that might not seem long but he says you see how large letter I've written unto
you with mine own hand because the longer epistles that Paul wrote he had someone else writing it
down for him like for example in Romans chapter 16 it says I Tertius who wrote this epistle salute
you in the Lord so Paul was dictating it to a guy named Tertius that actually wrote it out for him
a secretary here he wrote the whole thing with his own handwriting at the end of second
Thessalonians he says the salutation of Paul with mine own hand which is the token in every epistle
so I write so basically customarily the Apostle Paul would dictate it to someone else who would
write it down and then he would just at the very end he would do that part in his own hand the part
that says the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all amen he would do that in his own
handwriting just so that they would know that the letter was authentic that it was not a counterfeit
that it really came from him he would do that part in his own hand well here he says you see
a large letter I've written unto you with my own hand I think what he's trying to say there is that
he feels that this was so important and it's so urgent you know he didn't even wait to have
somebody copy it down for him he didn't even look to anyone else it's almost like he just grabbed pen
and grabbed paper and wanted to get this letter out because it's so important and you can tell
the urgency of the tone of the letter because all throughout Galatians he's rebuking and telling
them don't be deceived by this I'm afraid of you what are you doing you know why have you turned
to another gospel and all these things so what does he get into because he says you see how large
a letter I've written unto you with my own hand so he's gonna get into the important reason why
he's writing such a long letter as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh they constrain
you to be circumcised so he's getting back on the problems that he's been rebuking for the last five
chapters they constrain you to be circumcised only less they should suffer persecution for the cross
of Christ for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law but desire to have you
circumcised that they make glory in your flesh but God forbid that I should glory save in the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world for in
Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new creature that's
what's important not circumcision not uncircumcision but a new creature now back in chapter 5 if you
flip back over to verse 11 of chapter 5 he said and I brethren if I yet preach circumcision why
do I yet suffer persecution then is the offense of the cross ceased so in chapter 5 verse 11 he's
saying that if he would preach circumcision he would not be persecuted right and then in chapter
6 he says they have you circumcised only less they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ
so again he's reiterating that preaching against circumcision is an unpopular thing to preach he
said if you preach it you'll get persecuted right he says if I preach circumcision then I wouldn't
be getting persecuted and here he says these people are preaching circumcision because they
don't want to get persecuted why because when you preach the pro-judaism doctrine the pro-zionism
the pro-israel doctrine you'll be a popular preacher look at all the TV preachers every
one of them they're very pro-israel pro-zionist pro-Jewish and they'll even sometimes you know
get the Jewish prayer shawls and put it on and they'll bring Jewish rabbis on and and they'll
talk so much about how wonderful you know the Israelis are for praying to the Lord and it's
they're not praying to the Lord I mean the Bible says if you don't have the Son you don't have the
Father but he that acknowledged that the Son hath the Father also so how could a Jewish person who
doesn't have Jesus be praying to the same God when the Bible says you don't have the Son you
don't have the Father he's acknowledged that the Son hath the Father also who is a liar but he
that denieth that Jesus is the Christ he's Antichrist that denyeth the Father and the Son
you know you can't say well I'm trusting God if you don't trust Jesus and the Jews of course reject
Jesus which makes them a false religion but you don't see the TV preachers you don't see the
popular big-name preachers even in our own independent fundamental Baptist circles the
big-name popular conference preachers are all going to teach the pro-israel pro circumcision
pro-zionism doctrine why only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ
because you start saying anything against anything Jewish and you know what you're called
anti-semitic you know I try to make it a racial thing even though there's no racial difference
between the Jews and everyone else there is no racial difference we're all of one blood
we're all intermingled thousands of years later and yeah at the time of Christ was there a
difference between Jew and Gentile a lot more so than today but that was before God scattered
them into all nations for the third time and before they'd been completely intermingled and
mixed for the last 2,000 years to where no Jew today can show you their genealogy back to the
patriarchs none zilch we talked to these rabbis and said does anybody even know what tribe they're
from no this is coming out of the mouth of an Orthodox rabbi no one knows what tribe there he
said it's not important we don't know it's like well how do you even know you're Jewish and and
this is what they all pretty much said well you know as long as you believe you're Jewish and
you're Jewish is it I asked this guy we asked one of the rabbis like are you you know is it possible
that you're not even descended you know from full-blooded Jews and he said well I think he
said I think I'm descended from converts he said I don't think my ancestors were Jewish at all
because he said my last name is a Brahmi and a Brahmi is a name that they would give to people
that were non-Jews when they convert to Judaism they'll call them a Brahmi son of Abraham because
he said we're the sons of Abraham through faith he says so he so the Jewish rabbi is like it
doesn't matter what our nationality is if we have the faith of Abraham we're Jews and I'm thinking
to myself uh yeah that's right that's true except that the faith of Abraham means you believe in
Jesus yeah that's the part they're missing but it's so funny how even the Jews are like oh we're
Jews by faith we don't need a genealogy but then the Christians are like oh they're they're special
because of their genealogy that they don't have and then there's this troublesome verse in the
New Testament that says avoid genealogies which basically means it doesn't matter what our
ethnicity is it's meaningless but there are people who want to make a fair show in the flesh they
constrain you to be circumcised only less they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ
you know God forbid Paul said that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ don't
you love that statement right there verse 14 look down at your Bible but God forbid that I should
glory save and the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto
the world what's he saying he's saying we have nothing to glory in except Jesus now what are
some things that people glory in besides Jesus they glory in I'm Jewish or they glory in I'm a
white person I mean there are white supremacists that glory in the fact that they're white there
are even people out there who will say oh white people are the true Israel the Israelites are
white people and they said Anglo-Saxon Saxon means son of Isaac and it's the sons of Isaac
the Israelites are the white people and then there's a whole nother group that says the black
people are the Israelites right the black Hebrew Israelites and there are people out there they'll
say hey it's all the Latinos they're the real Jews they're the real Israelites it's people just
wanted glory in the flesh God forbid that I should glory in being a white person God forbid you
should glory in being black God forbid you glory because you're quote unquote Jewish God forbid
that you would glory in being Latino hey I'm gonna glory that I'm a Christian rejoice that your names
are written in heaven don't glory in some fleshly attribute of oh I'm white I'm Native American I'm
black I'm so what it's meaningless but aren't there people who glory in that oh man they've
got all this pride and being on American pride white pride black pride Native American pride
Mexican pride you know Asian pride everybody's so proud you know what Jesus Christ pride right here
that's the only thing I'm gonna glory in that's not what else is there to boast in besides Jesus
in him we make our boasts all the day long the Bible says boast about your race and all but you
know what there are other things people glory into they glory in money they glory in their
money and oh you know I have so much money and that are they glory in their athletic achievements
are they glory in their education or titles or whatever achievement but you know what God forbid
that we should glory in anything except Jesus and and all this Zionism stuff it just takes the
emphasis off Jesus puts it on a bunch of Christ rejecting people puts it on a Christ rejecting
nation you know people get all excited about picking up the newspaper and figure out what's
going on in the so-called Holy Land you know they need to be picking up the Bible and reading about
Jesus and getting excited about soul winning winning people to Christ not winning a war
somewhere not not winning some battle so we can get more land for Israel or some some nonsense
you know why don't we get excited about winning a soul to Jesus you know I mean it's just this
emphasis on the flesh the carnal instead of on the spiritual it's it's epidemic today why because
there are plenty of people who don't want to suffer persecution for the cross of Christ that's
why they don't they're afraid to talk about this stuff like even people who agree with what I'm
saying that that it's all about Jesus and that it's not about our ethnicity and that and that
being a Jew means nothing if you don't have Jesus you're nothing you're no one you know he said
you're not a son of Abraham but but here's the thing even people who agree with that sometimes
are afraid to talk about it lest they suffer persecution you know you don't hear a lot of
sermons preaching against circumcision or preaching against these other Judaizing practices you know
but Paul said you know what I took the time to write this letter with my with my own hand because
it's so important not to let this stuff creep in you know these these circumcision the deeds
of the law all these different things he says in verse 16 and as many as walk according to
this rule now what is the rule well what did he just say verse 15 for in Christ Jesus neither
circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new creature and as many as walk according
to this rule peace beyond them and mercy and upon the Israel of God well you know what the Israel of
God is it's everybody who's saved it's the believers see there's the Bible talks about
Israel after the flesh that's that country over in the Middle East where they reject Jesus 99%
then there's the Israel of God well guess what the Israel of God is believers it's not those
who are circumcised it's those who are believers it's those that walk according to this rule that
are the Israel of God okay and of course there are many many scriptures to teach that Romans 9
for example says they're not all Israel that are of Israel neither because they are the seed of
Abraham are they all children but in Isaac shall thy seed be called that is they which are the
children of the flesh these are not the children of God but the children of the promise are counted
for the seed right there in Romans 9 7 through 9 it tells us that Israel is those who are born
of the Spirit it's not those who are born of the flesh that's what Romans 9 teaches so the Israel
of God is believers it's not a physical nation in the Middle East he says in verse 17 from henceforth
let no man trouble me for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus now what do you mean by
that well Paul's got a lot of opposition coming at him he's being persecuted pretty hard for
preaching this stuff he's saying look other people don't want to preach what I'm preaching because
they don't want to suffer persecution I'm suffering persecution because I'm preaching against the
circumcision and he says from henceforth let no man trouble me for I bear in my body the marks
of the Lord Jesus I believe he's referring what he says I bear in my body the marks of the Lord
Jesus I believe he's referring to the scars and the wounds of the beatings that he has received
for preaching the name of Jesus because he talks about how he received repeatedly 40 stripes save
one he was beaten with rods and so he's constantly being scourged for preaching the Word of God and
thrown in prison so what he's saying is look don't mess with me you know this let let no man
trouble me he said get off my case don't mess with me I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus
well you guys are afraid to preach what needs to be preached I'm out preaching it and being
persecuted and I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus so you just can back off is what he's
saying and here's the thing if you read Galatians from chapter 1 through chapter 6 the whole book
has a hostile tone because he starts out like I marvel that you're so soon removed from him
that called you into the grace of life on another crossbow and look how many times he says things
like Oh foolish Galatians I mean think about it what if we received the epistle of Paul to to the
churches of Arizona right what if we had that you know the epistle of Paul the apostle unto the
churches of Arizona and he's like Oh foolish Arizonans you've begun in the spirit are you now
made perfect in the flesh who is bewitched you over in Tempe you know that you've departed from
you know I'm afraid of you you know that's the style that this whole letter is written in he's
upset he's he's he's upset about the false he says I would they were even cut off which trouble you
so then he ends up with just don't mess with me you know I mean he's just like look from henceforth
let no man trouble me for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus I think that's
what he's referring to when he says that and then he says lastly brethren the grace of our
Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit amen so even in the end even though this is a stern
letter even though he has to rebuke them even though he said a lot of harsh words he still
loves them that's why he said earlier am I become your enemy because I tell you the truth he's
trying to restore them in the spirit of meekness here you know he has to sometimes deliver a stern
rebuke and and get a little angry but in the end you know he just wants the grace of Christ to be
with them in the end he just wants them to get the truth and to get back on track and he wants
these false teachers to be dealt with and thrown out and cut off and that's what he's saying so as
we close the book of Galatians you know let me say this it's an extremely important book for
the day that we live in because these issues of workspace salvation and the the Jewish movement
of Hebrew roots sacred name and and and bringing all this Judeo-Christian doctrine in you know it's
very relevant in in today's world this is something that we're dealing with and so I think the book of
Galatians is more important than ever I'd encourage you to read this book frequently the whole book
of Galatians read it frequently and let these teachings sink down into your ears because we
need the book of Galatians to be equipped to deal with these false doctrines that are coming at us
you know it's just as urgent as it was when Paul wrote it urgently and he writes it with his own
hand it that's how urgent it is today for us alright enough word of prayer father we thank you
so much for this chapter Lord and for what we can learn from it Lord help us to restore people when
we see them overtaken in a fall here here in this book Paul's trying to restore the Galatians he
loves them he's trying to help them but yet sometimes he had to show some tough love help us
to restore those in our lives who are going into sin and backslidden and try to get them back in
church and back serving you Lord and also Lord help us to understand that we're gonna reap what
we sow in this life when it comes to salvation we the only way we're gonna get everlasting life
is through the spirit but Lord help us to do good and and not be weary and well-doing so that
we can reap great rewards in heaven and and and we can earn wages Lord and gather fruit unto
everlasting life and Lord help us not to get sucked into any of these false doctrines that
are out there help us not to be carried about with every wind of doctrine Lord help us to be
steadfast unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord for as much as we know that our labor
is not in vain in the Lord and in Jesus name we pray amen